Despicable Villain

Chu Zeming led his juniors, arms folded across his chest as he forced Yue Lian to lead the way.

Looking at Yue Lian's back, Chu Zeming found something strange—why had Yue Lian not ascended?

Was ascending to the Immortal Realm not a good thing?

One had to know that, since ancient times, every cultivator's greatest dream had been to transcend tribulation, become immortal, and ascend to the Immortal Realm.

Then why was Yue Lian unwilling to ascend?

Chu Zeming stared at Yue Lian's back, frowning in thought. The more he considered it, the more he felt that Yue Lian was hiding countless secrets.

As they gradually ventured deeper from the entrance of Torch Dragon Valley, the scenery before them became vast and open. Poisonous insects, snakes, and scorpions occasionally crawled beneath their feet. Fiery-red desert flats and rocks rose everywhere, while all manner of bizarrely shaped trees formed a landscape both strange and harmonious—as though this place had been born to look this way.

Many birdlike black shadows flew through the sky. Their pitch-black forms darted past like lightning. Seemingly having discovered the intruders at the mouth of the valley, they hovered briefly in the air before wheeling around in unison and swooping fiercely toward Chu Zeming and the others, a dark mass surging down with a savage aura.

These were the lowest-ranking demons of the Demon Race, Man-Faced Owls. They had the bodies of birds but malformed human faces, looking ferocious and terrifying. Cruel and bloodthirsty, they reproduced at an astonishing rate and were the most common creatures in Torch Dragon Valley. Their cultivation was low, barely at the Body Tempering Stage, with strength comparable to Fusion Stage cultivators.

Without needing Chu Zeming to say a word, Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and the others behind him directly brought out their magical artifacts.

Amid flashing blades and dancing swords, countless Man-Faced Owls wailed as they fell to the ground, piling into a small black mountain before the six of them.

Yet compared to the densely packed Man-Faced Owls in the sky, those that had been slain were merely a small fraction.

The bloody stench on the ground seemed to have provoked their kind. The Man-Faced Owls in the air charged at the six even more viciously.

Man-Faced Owls possessed intelligence, though not much. Hot-tempered by nature, they liked to forage in groups. Relying on their vast numbers without fear of extinction, they were either fighting or on the way to a fight. But there were exceptions. Some Man-Faced Owls cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years and gained intelligence comparable to humans. Not only did they become alert and sharp-minded, but some even broke through the Transformation Stage, assuming human form and speaking aloud.

Such Man-Faced Owls were known as—Owl Kings.

Holding the Luminous Glaze Sword, Chu Zeming raised his head and looked into the distance. His gaze pierced through the countless Man-Faced Owls charging and darting about, landing on a towering Red Stone Cliff far away.

There stood a Man-Faced Owl with its wings folded, its black feathers gleaming with a cold light.

"Wait here for me."

After saying that, Chu Zeming shot into the air and flew toward the distant Red Stone Cliff.

The Man-Faced Owl standing at the edge of Red Stone Cliff seemed to realize that Chu Zeming had set his sights on it. The Man-Faced Owl King, bearing the weathered face of an elderly man with white brows and beard, revealed a humanlike smile. Immediately afterward, all the Man-Faced Owls abandoned their original targets and flew toward Chu Zeming as one, a vast black swarm.

Chu Zeming's expression darkened as terrifying Sword Qi radiated from the Luminous Glaze Sword.

Its boundless sword intent seemed to fill the entire space.

With a single swing, the overwhelming blackness ahead was forcibly cleaved open. Countless Man-Faced Owls fell to the ground, not even having time to cry out before dying beneath the sword of the young man in dark robes.

On Red Stone Cliff, the Man-Faced Owl King's expression turned complicated. After pondering for only a moment, he decided to abandon this prey.

Spreading his wings, he flew into the distance.

Chu Zeming sneered. "Trying to run? Impossible."

Spiritual power began flowing through his body, and Chu Zeming's long black hair stirred in the air without wind.

A Transformation Stage Man-Faced Owl was equivalent to a human cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm.

Could he, who had only recently advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm, measure up against this Man-Faced Owl?

As though sensing the intense battle intent in its master's heart, the Luminous Glaze Sword's spirit began to tremble and hum without pause.

It was excited. It had been a very, very long time since it had drunk blood so freely.

A powerful pressure erupted from the black-haired young man suspended in the air. The strength of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator came crushing down like an overwhelming tide. The next instant, Chu Zeming turned into a streak of light and chased after the Transformation Stage Man-Faced Owl King.

On the ground.

After sensing Chu Zeming's aura, everyone stood rooted to the spot with their magical artifacts in hand.

"That pressure just now..."

"Nascent Soul Realm."

"Is Brother Chu a freak? When he sparred with me last time, he was only a mid-Golden Core cultivator."

After speaking, everyone sucked in a breath of cold air. They withdrew their gazes and looked at one another.

In just a few months, he had broken through from the mid-Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul Realm. Even those monstrous geniuses from the ten great sects could not compare to Eldest Senior Brother's talent, could they?

Chu Zeming had no idea that suddenly revealing the Nascent Soul Realm cultivation he had always concealed had stunned so many people. At this moment, he was rapidly pursuing the Man-Faced Owl King.

One human and one demon began a tense, thrilling chase through the air.

Both possessed the strength of the Nascent Soul Realm. Although Man-Faced Owls were not skilled in combat, they were still flying demons of the Demon Race. Even though Chu Zeming pursued him with all his strength, he remained more than twenty meters behind the Man-Faced Owl King.

Chu Zeming's expression darkened.

No, he had to think of something.

The Man-Faced Owl King had not expected the man dressed all in black behind him to be so persistent. Several times, Chu Zeming had nearly caught him. As he beat his wings and flew onward, the Man-Faced Owl kept turning his head to look back. When he saw that Chu Zeming's speed had slowed slightly, a mocking smile could not help appearing on his face.

Sure enough, after chasing for so long, he's almost out of strength, isn't he?

He can't catch me now, can he?

The next moment, he saw the man suddenly throw the sharp sword in his hand. The red sword transformed into countless afterimages and shot toward the Man-Faced Owl King at an astonishing speed. The Man-Faced Owl King's pupils constricted as he frantically beat his wings, swiftly dodging the Sword Qi in midair. When he evaded the last red afterimage, a smug expression appeared on his face.

Just as he turned his head, before he could even let out a sinister cackle, a pitch-black thing suddenly smashed into his face.

What the hell?

Wasn't he controlling the spirit sword?

Why does he have another magical artifact?

A Nascent Soul Realm cultivator can't possibly have spiritual power strong enough to control multiple magical artifacts in battle at once!

This magical artifact can move.

Cold, slippery... not like a magical artifact...

The Man-Faced Owl King's mind raced until a sharp pain struck the tip of his nose. Only then did his thoughts finally halt. He hovered in the air for half a second, then fell stiffly from the sky.

With a thunderous bang, the Man-Faced Owl King crashed down from the heights.

Chu Zeming let out a soft breath, put away the Luminous Glaze Sword, and flew down.

Arriving before the fallen Man-Faced Owl King, Chu Zeming picked up Xiao Hei, who was clinging to his face.

Finding a magical rope he had picked up from a stall during the Joint Grand Tournament in his storage space, Chu Zeming mercilessly tied up the Man-Faced Owl King.

Even after being tied up, the Man-Faced Owl King still had not awakened.

Looking at the Man-Faced Owl King, who was foaming at the mouth and convulsing nonstop, Chu Zeming asked quietly, "Dragon Treasure, you didn't poison him to death, did you?"

The Xiao Heis shook their heads in unison.

Just a tiny, tiny bit of poison. He definitely would not die.

Chu Zeming was reassured. "That's good. I still want to use him to find the disciples trapped in here."

Torch Dragon Valley was too vast. Searching with only six people would take far too long, so Chu Zeming planned to make use of one of Torch Dragon Valley's natives.

By the time he dragged the Man-Faced Owl King back to his junior brothers, the Man-Faced Owl King had finally awakened from the pain. Every feather on his body stood on end, and he was covered in wounds of varying sizes, as though he had been scraped by gravel, tree thorns, and brambles.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a handsome black-haired young man in dark robes crouching down and staring at him without blinking.

The Man-Faced Owl King furiously transformed into human form and immediately cursed, "You despicable, treacherous villain!"